Krishna's childhood nickname was "Butter Thief." Shiva likes to get away from it all every now and then. Ganesha has a sweet tooth, so be sure to share your candy with him. And whatever you do, don't get Kali agitated.

These and many other fun facts can be found in Sanjay Patel's "The Little Book of Hindu Deities" (144 pages, Plume, October 2006). The book is a collection of humorous but reverent biographical profiles of 50 divinities, each paired with Patel's illustration of the god or goddess in question. Patel, an artist at Pixar Animation Studios, renders the divine beings in a brilliantly colored, modern anime style that works surprisingly well to capture the personality of deities that have been around for millennia.

Patel, 32, whose work has appeared in "Monsters, Inc.," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2" and "The Incredibles" and on Fox's "The Simpsons," was raised by devoutly Hindu parents who immigrated to Southern California in 1980. At the moment, he's more apt to find the divine in art than in any religious tradition, but he hasn't ruled out the idea that he may become a Hindu again someday.

What would you say was the best part about growing up Hindu in America?

Honestly, I can't think of anything that was good about growing up Hindu in America. I found it really to be a burden, actually.

How so?

I was forced to practice Hinduism because I was living in my parents' house, but I was just going through the motions. It felt like doing chores to me, all the fasting and rituals. My parents really didn't explain why we were doing these things or what they were for.

Were there many Indians living in the part of San Bernadino where you grew up?

Yes. My parents owned a motel right on a stretch of highway they call "motel alley," along what used to be Route 66. There were about 20 motels that were all owned by Gujarati families. So we definitely weren't the only ones from India. But we were sort of alienated from the other Indian families -- mainly because my mother was schizophrenic. She was diagnosed before I was born, and because of that, it cut us off in a lot of ways.

Why were you cut off?

In the Indian community there are a lot of functions that the women sort of foster and shepherd along, like going to temple and attending these big Indian festivals like Diwali and whatnot. And sometimes my father would go, but usually he was too busy managing the motel, which required a full-time presence.

At what point did you pull away from Hinduism altogether?

My older brother put his foot down because my father would force us to pray -- my brother just got fed up with it. He and my father fought, and eventually he was able to cut the cord. After that, we could both do what we wanted to do. Ironically, I started going to a Christian church when I was in middle school because I had some friends who went there. It was more of a social than a religious thing -- I think I just wanted to get away from the motel.

Why did you decide to do a book about Hindu gods?

I was always fascinated by mythology and legend. Then I read a story about Ganesha, the elephant-headed god and how he came into being, and it really captivated my imagination.

You had never heard the story before?

I had no familiarity with Ganesha except these little pictures that I would stare at while we prayed. It would be like seeing Jesus on the cross and having no idea about the story behind it.

Do you have a specific Hindu god or goddess that you are particularly fond of?

I like Vishnu a lot. He reincarnated himself 10 times in the form of various avatars, or reborn gods, in order to right injustices in the world. I think it's fascinating how somebody can recreate himself to fix a problem. Vishnu sleeps on a bed of snakes, and the snakes are represented as the infinity of time and the amorphous nature of life. All of these things just boggle my mind. It really fires my imagination.

Hindu families often have a special god or goddess that they favor. Did your family?

Durga, the mother goddess. My dad really worshiped her, and I was fascinated because at the time I was into "He-man" comics. He-man is this barbarian that rides a green tiger, and if you look at Durga, she is this princess Indian woman who has many arms and they're holding all of these buckets, and she rides on a tiger, too. I was always struck with that similarity. So I really like her, too. Actually, she is one of my favorites.

How has writing this book changed your view of Hinduism?

I had a lot of animosity toward Hinduism because I was forced to practice the religion without really understanding what it was or why I was doing it. Now I can see it as a very beautiful mythology, and I think it's really captivating, really stimulating, actually.

There are many concepts that are so interesting to me, like the idea of reincarnation and karma. I like the fact that, depending on what you sow in this life, you might pay for it in the next life. I like this idea that the goal is to get out of the cycle of birth and rebirth and move to something higher, something more noble.

Do you see yourself a spiritual person?

I'm not sure, really. I guess I'm still figuring out what that word means. I do see myself as a person who is devoted, devoted to my art, but I don't know if that's spiritual or not. One thing I do believe is that anything should be said and can be said. I see human expression as sacrosanct. I believe people should have the freedom to say and do whatever they want.

Many people who don't subscribe to a particular religion still feel like there is something else going on, some kind of order to the universe and a reason why they're here. Do you?

Yeah! I definitely think there is more to this world than meets the eye. And I do feel like there's a reason why I'm here.

Any idea what that reason might be?

For a long time, I've felt that I'm here to make art and draw, and for some reason I feel guilty about saying that -- I'm not sure why. I so completely find myself through my art and my work -- I'm not sure if that's [my connection to] God. I know I feel absolutely at peace and totally satisfied when I'm working. I completely lose myself, and that's the greatest feeling. No criticism, no desire, just absolute bliss.

Do you have a philosophy of life?

Be nice to people, laugh and be charitable. Those are my three big tenets. I think these are good things to remember.

The response to your books has been pretty positive in the reviews I've read. I'm curious if anyone has been upset about cartoon renditions of Hindu gods?

Well, fortunately nobody has, which is great. I've been pretty conscientious about taking the right tone with the material. I received only one critical e-mail, and I thought the person's point was pretty astute. The first version of the book, which initially I self-published and sold on my Web site, was called "Little India." And the e-mail brought up the point that this is a book that features Hindu gods, but India is a very multicultural country and a lot of people there practice other religions. You know, there are Sikhs, Christians, Muslims. I felt horrible because I realized I had a made a huge mistake. So I changed the name to "The Little Book of Hindu Deities."

How did your parents respond to the book?

I don't know if my mom really understands the concept. I showed it to her a couple of times, but I couldn't tell if she knew what it was.

I waited a very long time before showing it to my dad. I was worried about how he would react. But he loved it! He also encouraged me to do more Hindu things. He was like, "OK, now that you are writing this book why don't you light a candle? Why don't you just do one or two things?" I told him, "Dad, that's not why I did this book, so I can practice this religion. I was really stimulated by the stories and the mythology of it."

Did you learn anything about yourself while doing the book?

I think in part I've learned to be happy with who I am. I've learned that Hinduism interests me a great deal. I had no way to connect with Indian culture before doing this book. Indian culture meant listening to blaring music or running a small business like a motel -- I didn't do any of those things. And so I never had an entry point into connecting with other Indians.

It strikes me in reading your book that the Hindu gods can be beautifully rendered in a cartoon style. I'm not sure other traditions would work in that format. They might come off as kitschy or strange. What is it about the Hindu deities that works as a cartoon?

It's funny because, actually, I think there is a big kitsch factor to this book. You know, making them look like cartoons, that's just sort of absurd in one sense. In another sense, I suppose it works because these gods have been depicted for thousands of years by different artists, and I'm carrying on that tradition. I'm an artist and this is how I see it. That's how I sort of come to terms with it.

I also think that the reason that the Hindu gods really lend themselves to caricature is because the mythology itself is really abstract. You have characters with elephant heads, characters that are bird and human at the same time, characters that have decapitated heads -- things that just wouldn't work well in photography or some highly rendered imagery,

You worked on "The Simpsons" for a while. How did you feel about Abu, the Kwik-E-Mart owner who was Hindu? I remember some Indian Americans were upset about his portrayal.

I love "The Simpsons" dearly. I still watch it every day, and there is nothing else that can make me laugh as hard. When I was working on the show, I took no offense to Abu. Actually, I think it is dead on. I love that we took advantage of his Hindu background and pointed out that he does things differently than Homer and worships different gods. Having said that, I think the caricature is emblematic of Indian immigrants who emigrated here during the '70s and '80s. A lot of them were running convenience stores and other small businesses. Dead on. Dead on. Now, it's 2007, and their children are doctors or engineers. I guess what I'm trying to say is the culture has changed and so should the icon.

As a member of the new Indian culture here in America, do you think you might ever explore Hinduism any further?

I've been doing a lot of reading about Hinduism because I'm planning to go to India for a visit. It will be my first time there. I'm finding I'm stimulated by many of the concepts, like the idea of dharma. The meaning has changed over many, many years, but how I understand it is what people choose as their duty in life to do.

Maybe you don't practice Hinduism like your father does, but you still see yourself as connected to the tradition. Doesn't that make you a certain kind of Hindu?

I suppose there's some truth in that. I see what my parents and other practicing Hindus do, but they don't necessarily question it or think about what they're doing. Well, I'm questioning a lot, trying to understand what's going on behind the mythology of the religion. If you define being Hindu in terms of devotion, well, I'm absolutely devoting five or six hours a night to Hinduism.

I'm just starting to come to terms with who I am, and maybe once I do that I can figure out what I believe. I'm just taking one step at a time.

Finding My Religion wants to hear from you. Send comments on stories and suggestions for interview subjects to miller@sfgate.com.

During his far-flung career in journalism, Bay Area writer and editor David Ian Miller has worked as a city hall reporter, personal finance writer, cable television executive and managing editor of a technology news site. His writing credits include Salon.com, Wired News and The New York Observer.